| Aims:This research takes Internet users as the survey objects,to investigate the status of information seeking behavioral intention and the influencing factors.On this basis,we further explore the relationship between sense of community,perceived information needs,informational subjective norms,perceived current knowledge,perceived risk likelihood,negative affective responses and information seeking behavioral intention,to provide basis for designing and implementing risk communication strategies.Methods:This study used a convenient sampling method to collect data through the Questionnaire Star platform,and adult users who had used the Internet from January to July 2020 are selected.After collating and screening,a total of 871 respondents were included,and the effective recovery rate was 84.9%.The questionnaire included the socio-demographic data of respondents,as well as seeking preferences,and sense of community,perceived information needs,informational subjective norms,perceived current knowledge,perceived risk likelihood,negative affective responses and information seeking behavioral intention.SPSS 24.0 and AMOS 24.0 were used for statistical analysis,and P<0.05 was considered to be statistically.Results:(1)A total of 871 valid samples were obtained in this study,of which more than half(50.6%)of the respondents thought that they were in great need of COVID-19 information.(2)The score of information seeking behavioral intention was 16.03 ± 2.97.The results of this study showed that age,education level,family annual income and selfrated health status were factors that could create statistically significant differences(P<0.05)in the seeking behavioral intention;while gender,medical-related knowledge and seeking experience had no statistical significance in the score of seeking behavioral intention(P>0.05).Through multiple comparisons,there were significant differences in the seeking behavioral intention scores of 50,001-100,000 yuan(P<0.05),100,001200,000 yuan(P<0.01),and≥200,001 yuan(P<0.05),while was compared with≤20,000 yuan;In terms of age,there was a significant difference in the seeking behavioral intention score between 18-25 years and 26-35 years(P<0.05),and>65 years(P<0.01).Compared with 26-35 years,there were significant differences in the seeking behavioral intention score in 18-25 years(P<0.05),56-65 years(P<0.01)and>65 years(P<0.01).As for educational level,the seeking behavioral intention score of undergraduate was significantly higher than those of senior high school/technical secondary school(P<0.01)and junior college(P<0.05).In regard to self-rated health status,the health score was higher than general(P<0.01).(3)There was statistical significance in information needs in terms of education level and self-rated health status(P<0.05),while gender,age,annual family income,medical knowledge background,and information seeking experience had no statistical differences in the information needs(P>0.05).Through multiple comparisons,there were significant differences in the information needs of senior high school/technical secondary school(P<0.05)and junior college(P<0.05)while was compared with junior high school and below;In terms of self-rated health status,healthy Internet users’ needs was significantly higher than those with general health status(P<0.01).(4)During the emergency infectious diseases,users paid particular attention to the information about the prevention and control measures,infection symptoms,transmission routes and vaccine production of COVID-19,and the penetration rate was 69.7%,46.3%,36.9%,and 34.8%,respectively.Diversified channels of information seeking are presented,among which,search engine ranks first with 24.98%response rate and 68.31%penetration rate,becoming the most dependent channel for users.In the survey of channel credibility preference,the mean values of traditional media,health care information website,academic database,search engine,social media,interpersonal channel,and news media were significantly 4.24,4.20,4.14,4.13,4.12,4.09,and 4.07.(5)According to the structural equation model analysis results,sense of community,informational subjective norms,perceived current knowledge,negative affective responses and perceived information needs were positively correlated with the information seeking behavioral intention,and the standardized path coefficients were 0.12,0.40,0.14,0.09 and 0.18(P<0.05),among which,informational subjective norms were the most powerful driving factor.The sense of community can indirectly predict the information seeking behavioral intention through informational subjective norms(β=0.58,P<0.001)and negative affective responses(β=0.13,P<0.001).Perceived current knowledge has a positive correlation with perceived information needs(β=0.53,P<0.001),and has a negative correlation with perceived risk likelihood(β=-0.11,P<0.01).In addition,informational subjective norms positively affect perceived current knowledge(β=0.21,P<0.001),and then indirectly affect information seeking behavioral intention.The standardized path coefficient between perceived risk likelihood and negative affective responses,negative affective responses and perceived information needs was 0.26 and 0.17 respectively,with statistically significant differences(P<0.05).Conclusion:(1)Due to concerns about health and safety,users tend to seek information to solve their health needs.Age,education level,family annual income and self-rated health status have significant differences in the comparison of the mean scores of information seeking behavioral intention.Information needs were statistically different in terms of education level and self-rated health status.(2)During the emergency infectious diseases,the information users most desire is prevention and control measures.The channels for seeking information are diversified,among which,search engine is the preferred channel for users to seek information.Traditional media gained higher recognition by virtue of its advantages of authority,norms and stability.(3)Sense of community,informational subjective norms,perceived current knowledge,negative affective responses and perceived information needs were positively correlated with the information seeking behavioral intention.Among them,informational subjective norms were the most powerful driving factor.(4)Sense of community can not only directly affect the information seeking behavioral intention,but also indirectly affect the information seeking behavioral intention through informational subjective norms and negative affective responses.(5)Perceived current knowledge can not only directly or indirectly affect information seeking behavioral intention,but also mediates the effect of informational subjective norms on information seeking behavioral intention. |
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